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Week 2

Well technically I suppose yesterday was the beginning of our second full week in the hospital, but hey most people see the beginning of the week as Monday so here it is; Monday.

We saw our neurosurgeon this morning and he drew off some of her CSF (cerebral-spinal fluid) to send for labs and if it comes back clean then we are set for her third surgery to take place on Thursday, though I am not sure what time as I did not ask. I at least have a day and that is fine with me. I asked our neurosurgeon about the next shunt and since he has already told us it will not be a programmable one, how does he know what setting to place for her. He said it has to do with the external shunt we have in place currently and if she stays content with where it is at now and how it is currently draining then we will place her with a 1.5 setting and it will not be programmable so we can once again have our house back to normal!

Since he drew off some fluid though her output has been quite slow in comparison to other days, so we had asked one of the peds. docs here in ICU and it just so happened that she did her residency with Dr. Foody (our neurosurgeon) so she looked her over and said that we will keep a close eye on her the rest of the day and all evening, but with this gravity shunt, if you lower it below her head it does flow freely which means that there is no blockage. I am praying she is correct, because Willow has done a lot of sleeping and fussing today and that was her sign to us last time that something was wrong. I am not going to go into panic mode over it though, as I know we are in great hands. The nursing staff here has been wonderful and if I can get them any type of gift at all for taking such great care of us I would, only I don't even know where to begin! LOL

So, Jon went back to work today and I will return tomorrow. I know it is very hard for us to do this, but we also know that financially we have to go back to work or we will sink faster than we may already be. I am truly thankful though for our many friends who are pulling together to help us out with the children this week in such a hard time. Our principal arranged for Jonathan to attend Loop even though we were told there were no more spaces, and Mandie is picked up from school by a friend, and then the boys join her after Loop and they all stay until he gets out of work and picks them up. We could not be more pleased with how things seem to be working so well in this time of stress due to our friends. We also have a wonderful meal calendar set up for us at: http://www.mealtrain.com/?id=mtfr2ke7h2rt And that has been super helpful as well.

All in all, this week will be mostly waiting and praying that her labs come back clean so that we can have this next surgery and that we then make it through that hurdle as well. It will also be stressful as we try to juggle our stress and work and caring for the children as much as possible. I know they say this will make you stronger in the end, but I am also hoping it strengthens our family as well.

Please just keep Willow in your thoughts, prayers and healing wishes through this week as we move towards the next surgery date.

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I am a busy woman, who is a mother, a wife, a sister, a teacher (though not in a traditional setting). I am on a journey to find what is in store for me with this Life, and love to share my passions with others. A few of those being my non-profit, my oil knowledge, writing, and so much more.